Hey, next chapter! I'm getting back in the groove. Thank you to those who suffered through this. I do not own Hetalia. Also, there will be no mentions of the Crimea-Russian-Ukrainian situation, being that I started this story before catching wind of it. But I will say this: F*ck politicians. Just in general.
"..an? Stan!" Stanley's eyes crack open, his sight double-vision.
"Stan! Are you alright?" That's Pierre. Stan squeezes his eyes shut.
"My head aches like a mother." he mumbles. He opens his eyes again and, after blinking a few times, he is no longer double visioned. Thank God. After a quick survey on his surrounding (he and D are lying on the floor side by side and everyone else is hovering over them, their worried expressions beginning to fade) he finally speaks in a more coherent voice. "What happened?"
"You and Dmitri passed out. We were able to block out the rest of that sleeping gas and opened some windows." Mary says softly as she helps him sit up. As if on cue, Dmitri moans and stirs.
"Did I fall asleep?" he mutters, sitting up.
"Oh Dima! You are okay!" Sasha cries out, hugging him tightly. Yuri simply places a hand on his shoulder.
"So, everyone here is going to be fine, si?" Giovanni asks nervously. Eva nods gravely.
"Ja. I think so." Akiko goes to the door and takes the jackets back to them.
"You two were out of it for over two hours. The rest of us needed time to get our wits back from what we inhaled." she explains as the boys slip back into their jackets and stand up. Stanley looks over to the door with determination.
"Okay, dudes and dudettes. Stand back." He walks over and kicks it as if he were kicking a football. The door flies from its hinges and hits the wall, falling over. Eva looks over his shoulder and turns pale. There is a rust-colored smear on the white paint.
"Papi." she whispers. Dmitri studies it.
"This is not good. Something is horribly wrong."
"We have to check the meeting room." Jason says. The group makes their way down the hall slowly, looking out for any sort of danger.
"Baba?" Mai calls out nervously. They begin to see the aftermath of a violent struggle: holes punched in the wall, droplets of blood staining the pale green carpet, claw marks, and more than they would ever want to mention. After what feels like a decade, they finally reach their parent's meeting room.
"Mon dieu." Pierre and Jason whisper. The door has been shattered into splinters and the room itself looks like a war zone. And they've fought in wars.
"Alright, I guess we search the place." Stanley says, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Giovanni approaches the table, which has been broken in half. A small figure zips from under it and clings to his leg.
"AAHHH!" he shrieks, then looks down. He relaxes.
"Kumajiro!" Jason sweeps the trembling animal into his arms.
"They took him." he whimpers. Jason's eyes widen.
"Look." Dmitri speaks solemnly. Standing next to each other, he and Stan hold their fathers' prized possessions: Ivan's scarf and Texas. Their cousins flock around them.
"Oh no…" Mary squeaks. Jason holds back tears and Pierre places a trembling hand over his mouth.
"D-Dyaďko Vanya would never leave his scarf behind. Not the one Mama gave to him." Sasha sobs, giving the soft, worn fabric a squeeze. Yuri fiddles with the ends, looking shell-shocked.
"I-This is really happening." Mai chokes out.
"We need to get out of here." Giovanni moans.
"Couldn't agree with you more, pal." Stanley says. He takes out the case for his own glasses and sets Texas inside gently. Dmitri folds up his father's scarf and slips it in the pocket on the inside of his coat. They run of the room and down the staircase, not bothering to use the elevator. Dmitri swings the door open and cries out.
"Ebať kopať!" The lobby resembles a scene straight out of a horror film. All of the employees have been lined up against the walls and shot execution-style.
"H-how…?" Stanley whispers, a lump forming in his throat. His people. His brothers and sisters. Killed. Right under his nose.
"We need to go, Stan!" Mary shouts, grabbing his arm. They run past the corpses, doing all they can to not look at them. Yuri slips on a puddle of blood and lands on one.
"Ack-!" Lifting his head, he sees it is the troublesome woman from yesterday. "D-Dima? Sasha-?" His older cousins haul him to his feet and and quickly lead him back to the group.
"Do not think about it sweetheart. Your cousins Dima and Sasha are here." she croons.
Usually, he would have snapped that he wasn't a child anymore. Now Yuri finds himself trembling and taking comfort in their arms.
"Let's go, everyone!" Akiko calls. The capitals rush out of the building and barrel to the hotel, paying no mind to the annoyed pedestrians they run into on the way.
/
They decided to all stay in Giovanni and Feliciano's room. It was an unspoken decision on everyone's part. The TV show is some sort of 90's sitcom, but no one bothered to actually watch it. Instead, the room is littered with very scared, disturbed, and sorrowful capitals. Sitting in two of the chairs are Akiko and Mai, holding each other's hands. On the bed is Giovanni, Eva and Pierre, staring at the scenes occurring in the show, not knowing so much as the characters' names, much less the plot. On the floor left to the bed, Stanley, Mary and Jason play round after round of Go Fish while Kumajiro is napping on Jason's lap. On the other side, Dmitri, Yuri and Sasha chain-smoke in a semicircle with an ashtray in the middle. By eight in the evening, someone finally snaps.
"Why are we just sitting here?!" Akiko cries, leaping out of her chair. "We have to find them! I have to find Otousan!" She stands for a minute, observing the eyes wide from her outburst before breaking down into tears. Mai hugs her tightly.
"She is right. We must do something." Eva finally speaks. There is a murmured agreement among everyone.
"Maybe we should contact our bosses?" Pierre suggests.
"Never trust politicians with this kind of stuff. Mass hysteria, blind accusations, I can see it now." Jason points out.
"We have to go back." Stan states, not looking too pleased about it. "Maybe we missed some clues. I'll do it."
"I am going with you then." Dmitri says with finality. Stan smiles weakly.
"Alright. Let's go man." They stand up and head for the door.
"Now wait a minute! You gits can't really be going by yourselves!" Mary interjects.
"Listen, all of us can't go." Stan takes out his phone and puts it on vibrate. "I'll give you a call when we get there."
"You will call us as well, Dima." Yuri says, looking at his cousin expectantly. Dmitri smiles softly and sets his phone on vibrate as well.
"Da, I will."
/
"I don't see any police tape." Stanley says as the two approach the front doors of the building, flashlights in hand.
"I am not sure if we should be relieved or worried about that Stan." Dmitri says with a frown.
"We'll roll with relieved for now, but we should watch our heads." Dmitri nods and they go inside, turning their torches on.
"Oh God." Stan groans, seeing the bodies.
"Horrible." Dmitri says in agreement with a hint of disgust.
"C'mon D, we gotta head upstairs."
/
"Do you believe in spirits?" Stan asks as they approach the meeting room.
"Officially, I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian. Personally, I am agnostic. Why do you ask?"
"I'm guessing that you didn't bring any crosses or holy water, huh?"
"You are so odd, Stan. That aside, if you are speaking of an exorcism, I believe that is a Catholic practice."
"Come on man! There are dead people here!"
"And it is terrible, mortifying, disgusting…"
"Of course, of course, but...they might still be here." Dmitri quirks an eyebrow.
"Please explain."
"You know, those people were killed in cold blood. And they're probably pissed off about it, so their spirits might be roaming around, unable to find a way to the next world-"
"This is no time for you to feed into your fear of ghosts."
"I-I'm not! But-"
"Stan, my Papa is more frightening than any supernatural being that we will more than likely not encounter." Dmitri giggles.
True.
But if there are, they better not be like the ones in Mr. Honda's horror movies, or he will freak. His dad is insane. That kind of ghost is way scarier than any monster Stanley has witnessed in cinema, and Dad thinks they're just hilarious…
Dad.
"Get a hold of yourself! He'll be okay!" Stanley snarls aloud.
Dmitri whips his head around. "What?!"
"Ah ha. Sorry D." Stanley chuckles, a little embarrassed.
"We keep that between us, da? We are here."
"Well, let's check out it." Entering the room, Dmitri spots the light switch and turns it on. "I never understood why the police in crime shows don't do that." Stan comments.
"It is much easier this way." They begin to search for something remotely helpful to the Nations' location, and who took them.
"We must be dealing with professionals here. Not only did they wreck the place, but they took our parents. Thank God they didn't get to us."
Thank Mr. Beilschmidt.
"I hope they are okay." Dmitri whispers, with mostly concern in his voice, but there is a notable hint of anger in it as well.
"Hey man, don't start going 'kolkolkol' on me now. Save it for when we find 'em, so you and your dad can make the bastards who did this piss themselves." Dmitri allows a small smile.
"If Tetya Natalya and Yuri do not get them before." Stan grins.
"Well, tell them to leave some for the rest us-hey!" Stanley snatches what appears to be a business card. "Typical villain blunder: leaving behind evidence." he announces with a smirk. Dmitri runs over to him.
"What does it say?" he gasps. Stan furrows his brow.
"W.L.L? Looks like some sort of acronym for an organization."
"Or a radical group." Turning it over, they see some handwriting on the back. "It appears to be an address-" They hear footsteps and turn to the doorway just in time to see some long, dark hair slowly become visible and a bit of a rather pale forehead.
Like The Grudge.
"AAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!" Dropping their flashlights, Stan shoves the card into his pocket and the terrified American and Russian burst into a sprint, not noticing that the figure is quickly shrinking back. The only thing running through their minds were the sadistic, Japanese spirits who tormented their victims to death. They ran downstairs and right out the door, not stopping until they were only a block away from the hotel. They collapse against a building, taking deep breaths.
"Alright." Stan gasps. "Okay. We never speak of this to anyone."
"Why must those films be so scary!? I screamed like a little girl. And I have seen many things in my life." Dmitri moans. A group of teenagers walking by stop and stare at them oddly. The Russian Capital scowls at them.
"Kolkolkolkolkol!" he snarls. Turning white, they turn back and jog away quickly. "I hope that was acceptable." he says, turning to his friend, usual smile in place.
"Heh. I'm not complaining." Stanley snorts. Both their phones go off and upon answering, are scolded and cursed at by Mary and Yuri.
/
"Well, it's about time, you gits! Do you have any idea how worried we were?! We told you to bloody call us but no, you didn't!" Mary yells as the two are let into the room by Mai.
"I am resisting the urge to smack you Dima." Yuri growls.
"You might kiss us instead." Stan whips out the card, million volt grin in place. "Yeah, we're awesome."
"Mein Gott! This is fantastic!" Eva exclaims, taking the card and placing it on the table. "W.L.L? Hmm, interesting." She mutters.
"There's an address on the back. Didn't get to read it though." Sasha looks over to Stanley and Dmitri.
"Why not? Did something happen?" she asks with concern.
"The dead bodies, y'know? Felt too uncomfortable." Stan says quickly.
Thankfully, she nods with sympathy.
"It looks like they are being held in Siberia." Eva announces.
"WHAT?!" Dmitri marches over and snatches the card. As he looks at the written location, he begins to tremble with rage. "In my own fatherland?!" he snarls. Yuri and Sasha are quick to calm him.
"They are fools, Dima. Taking Mama, Ciotka Katyusha and Dzaidźka Vanya to an area we know very well." Yuri says reassuringly as he rubs his cousin's back, though the edge in his voice gives away that he is just as furious as Dmitri.
"We will find them dear. This could be to our advantage." Sasha soothes.
"But what if this is a trap? They'll expect us to go straight to Russia." Jason says.
"Then we'll work our way up." Stanley replies, as if it were the most obvious answer.
"What are you going on about, Stan?" Mary asks, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. Stan grabs a world map and unrolls on the table. Everyone else gathers around him, intrigued.
"We start out in Paris and start heading to Russia from there. We can throw off any typical evil henchmen that will try and foil our, the heroes', conquest. It may take a lot longer, but it's a better deal than the chance of being caught on the fly. And since it's the beginning of May, we have to miss out on the Winter Wonderland, but that also means that once we get to Siberia, we can make camp without freezing our butts off." He explains.
"That's a good plan." Mary admits, then smirks at Stan. "You actually make sense for once in your life."
"It may very well be our only option." Akiko adds.
"I am in! For Baba!" Mai says excitedly.
"We will stop until our families are safe." Sasha adds with determination.
"Wait, we're forgetting something." Jason holds up Kumajiro. "Dad and I drove down here to avoid customs."
"I brought my knives here. We should be able to figure out a way to bring Kumajiro." Yuri replies.
That is when the Capitals look at him, Dmitri and Sasha.
Mostly at Sasha.
"What?" The Slavic cousins ask. Mai smiles.
"I have an idea."
I promised I'd do better. :) Whoo, Operation Kick-Ass is in motion! And I got more follows? :') Thank you. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter cooking soon! And I hate politicians, if you don't know already.
Translations:
Russian:
Ebať kopať- Oh sh*t